Romero has left Midway

[Zeus]

Having just finished the book, I really doubt that he'll get a chance with a big developer until he proves himself with the small fry. This guy really needs to get his act together and realize he was not yesterday's news, but last week's news

http://ps2.ign.com/articles/633/633141p1.html

[SineSwiper]

Why the fuck was he at Midway? What a crap company! Then again, so are a bunch of other software companies nowadays...

[Zeus]

He started a cell phone game company with another ex-id guy and they got bought by Midway and he started working on Gauntlet

[Nev]

http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php?da ... 1-25&res=l
http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php?da ... 3-24&res=l
http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php?da ... 1-22&res=l

I wonder whether or not he got REALLY lucky to work with Carmack on Doom and Quake...Carmack *is* really talented, and I believe he still deserves his "industry legend" status.

[Zeus]

If you read the book, Carmack IS incredibly talented....at making game engines. But a good engine does not a good game make. You have to know what to do with those resources and, if the author's correct, it was Romero who mostly determined the direction (and what was included in) the Keen games, Wolfenstien, and Doom, the latter of which is what id is built upon. It was after Doom, when he got drunk on his celebrity status, that he stopped caring.

Incidentally, the reason Carmack wanted to work with Romero to begin with (author actually interviewed the two) is because Romero was a better programmer than him when he met him and he wanted to learn from him. Wow, how that changed.

[Nev]

Which book? I'm sort of interested now.

[SineSwiper]

Probably "Masters of Doom". On that note, Carmack is a fucking programmer and math god. I'm sure that Carmack was smarter than Romero when he first met him, but he wasn't as familar with coding as Romero. A guy like that can pick up the trade pretty fast.

[Zeus]

Probably "Masters of Doom". On that note, Carmack is a fucking programmer and math god. I'm sure that Carmack was smarter than Romero when he first met him, but he wasn't as familar with coding as Romero. A guy like that can pick up the trade pretty fast.

Yeah, it's Masters of Doom. They're making a movie of it (Showtime original movie).

And yeah, Carmack is a genius, but Romero, if he'd actually stuck to it, might be one of the best as well. And Carmack doesn't know how to design a game, just an engine. Romero was very good at it all but recognized that Carmack was better and engines (and it's something that he didn't want to do anyways) and let him do that while he concentrated on game design (and playtesting :-).

He really was the main inspiration and man behind the Keen games, Wolfenstein, and Doom, but became drunk on his own success after that (according to the book). He could have been the driving force behind an advancement in FPSs if he decided that's what he wanted to do, but he didn't. Now he's unemployed. Idiot.

[SineSwiper]

Now he's unemployed. Idiot.

"Hey guys, I can definitely confirm that I have left Midway," Romero writes in the post. "I've been gone for about 3 weeks and [Romero's wife] Rhaluka and I have been traveling around and having fun together (a sort of honeymoon without going to tropical destinations)."

Oh yeah, he's definately an idiot, living the high life and all.

[Zeus]

Now he's unemployed. Idiot.

"Hey guys, I can definitely confirm that I have left Midway," Romero writes in the post. "I've been gone for about 3 weeks and [Romero's wife] Rhaluka and I have been traveling around and having fun together (a sort of honeymoon without going to tropical destinations)."

Oh yeah, he's definately an idiot, living the high life and all.

Answer this: where is his future?

[SineSwiper]

Another gaming company. OH NOES!!11!!11 THEIR ONLY 3 LAFT IN EXISTANC3!1!11!! OMG WTF LOL

[Zeus]

Another gaming company. OH NOES!!11!!11 THEIR ONLY 3 LAFT IN EXISTANC3!1!11!! OMG WTF LOL

And who would you imagine would take him considering his post-Carmack track record?

[Nev]

Probably plenty of places. It's not the the game industry is brimming with household names. If I were running a game company, I'd give him an interview (though by no means a guaranteed position) - see if the talk by Carmack that he started slacking off like mad by the Quake II/III period, coming into work at 2pm, was true...

[Zeus]

He wasted Eidos. They lost millions of dollars on Daiakatana and helped with the big downfall of Eidos from one of the hottest development houses to crap; and the staleness of Tomb Raider and release of complete garbage, but this helped a lot, it was supposed help boost them.

Then, Midway gives him a golden opportunity with Gauntlet and he lets it go. Really, it'll be a small US house that gives him a chance, that's all.